Officials ID Bemidji woman killed in crash near Fargo with driver who allegedly sped through red light

Officials released the identity of the Minnesota woman who died in a two-vehicle collision near Fargo with an unlicensed minivan driver who is accused of speeding through a red light while high on drugs.

Saphyre Johnson, 28, of Bemidji died at the scene Wednesday night from injuries suffered in the collision in West Fargo, N.D., at the intersection of 19th Avenue and E. 9th Street, the North Dakota Highway Patrol said.

The minivan driver, 30-year-old Sabastijan Tahirovic of Fargo, was taken by emergency responders to Sanford Medical Center and survived his injuries, the patrol said.

The patrol said Tahirovic has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of drugs, possession of an illicit drug and driving without insurance.

Patrol Sgt. Nathaniel King said Tahirovic was driving without a valid license. Charges against him include driving with a suspended license.

According to the patrol:

Tahirovic was speeding west on 19th Avenue, ran a red light and hit the Bemidji woman's car on the driver's side as she drove south on 9th Street.

The woman's car hit a parked pickup truck nearby and ended up in the parking lot of the Blarney Stone Pub.

In June 2020, Tahirovic broke into a Moorhead, Minn., auto shop overnight, stole a car and crashed it into two trees in Moorhead in the 1000 block of S. 32nd Avenue. A woman in the car with him suffered several injuries.

Tahirovic was convicted of burglary and sentenced in November 2020 to a term of 2 ½ years. He was released from prison in February 2022 after about 1 ¼ years.

In North Dakota, his criminal history includes four convictions each for theft and drug-related crimes, two for burglary and one each for illegal weapons possession, committing a terrorist act and resisting police.